Further to the answer to question S6W-00511 on 21 June 2021, the Scottish Government has had no discussion regarding the use and release of imidacloprid-based treatments in Scotland’s marine environment with SEPA, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and Benchmark. No applications have been received for imidacloprid use or release.

Ministers granted permission (subject to conditions) on 21 December for the proposed Hoy and Quanterness wind farms in Orkney, on the basis that they are justified by their benefits, including their contribution towards the case for a new electricity interconnector to export renewable energy from Orkney to the Scottish mainland.

The decision letters are available to view at www.dpea.scotland.gov.uk/Document.aspx?id=814579 (Quanterness) and www.dpea.scotland.gov.uk/Document.aspx?id=814699 (Hoy).

The decision letters set out in full the grounds for the decisions. Ministers cannot comment beyond what is set out in the decision letters.

The area of new woodland that has been planted as (a) commercial forestry, (b) agroforestry and (c) private/community woodland in Scotland in the last year, December 2020 to November 2021, is shown in Table 1. There were no grant applications for the specific agroforestry option, which is different from tree planting on farms. More than half of the applications for tree planting in private and commercial forestry were from the agricultural sector.

Table 1 presents the estimated number of properties with a Higher Property Rate (HPR) liability in 2022-23, and the gross additional non-domestic rates income estimated to be raised in 2022-23 through the HPR, by property class.

Table 1 shows gross amounts and does not take account of reductions in liability due to reliefs awarded in 2022-23. This is in part due to the application of a £27,500 cap per ratepayer on retail, hospitality and leisure relief in 2022-23 which means that it is not possible to robustly estimate the breakdown of these figures by property class at this time.

Figures in Table 1 are broken down by property class as the Scottish Government does not hold data property-level on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and may not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

Table 1: Estimated number of properties subject to the Higher Property Rate, and gross HPR income, by property class in 2022-23

In order to ensure that relief is only awarded to eligible businesses who wish to claim support, retail, hospitality, and leisure non-domestic rates relief will be application-based in 2022-23, as it was in 2021-22.

Regulations amending the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 were made today.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (“the principal regulations”) and will take effect on17 January 2022.

The Amendment Regulations remove the physical distancing requirements in the Principal Regulations at outdoor event venues, outdoor exhibitions and outdoor spaces in sports stadia.

The Regulations also amend definitions in the Principal Regulations in relation to the certification requirements, in particular to the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’. To be considered fully vaccinated for domestic certification purposes, a person must have had a booster, if 120 days have passed since their primary course of a MHRA vaccine. If not boosted within 120 days, the person would be treated as if they had not been vaccinated and would require to show evidence of a negative test result within the previous 24 hours as an alternative to requiring full vaccination.”

The Regulations also remove the requirement in the Principal Regulations that a person must not organise an outdoor event of more than 500 people.

The Regulations have been published at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ssi/2022/6

Interim arrangements are being put in place for the position of the Chair of Caledonian Maritime Limited, a formal appointments process will commence early this year.

Morag McNeil, current Non-Executive Director and Vice Chair of the Board of Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited, has been appointed as Interim Chair until 31 October 2022.

We know households are facing financial pressures and have urged the UK Government to take action, particularly on spiralling energy costs. Our £41 million Winter Support Fund is helping people meet rising living costs and we also doubled the December payment of the Carer’s Allowance Supplement which supported 91,000 unpaid carers. Our Scottish Child Payment will also double in April. We are providing £7.4 million this year to support free debt advice, including additional funding for increased demand. I would also encourage people to access our new Money Support Scotland website for debt and money advice and adverts promoting the site are running now.

I met with NHS Board Chairs and Chief Executives this morning, including those from NHS Orkney, and we discussed a range of issues related to the current service pressures.

Scotland is a globally renowned producer of seed potatoes, with the industry contributing £245 million pounds annually to Scotland’s economy.

Regrettably, Brexit has had a disproportionate impact on the Scottish sector with the loss of the EU and NI markets. The Scottish Government raised concerns with the UK Government from the outset but this is another example of their failure to secure an outcome which protects this key Scottish industry. Finding a resolution is a priority for Scottish Government. At every opportunity we stand firm against export or import proposals that would cause further harm to our producers and exporters.